Ferrovial 2023 profit soars as builder seeks US expansion, listing

By Corina Pons

MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish construction giant Ferrovial posted on Tuesday a strong jump in 2023 net profit to 460 million euros ($499 million) from 186 million euros in 2022, beating analysts' estimates as the company prepares to list its shares in the United States.

Revenue rose 13.2% to 8.5 billion euros, helped by its highway concessions in the United States and Canada.

Analysts had expected a net profit of 290 million euros and sales of 8.32 billion euros.

Ferrovial CEO Ignacio Madridejos said in a statement that 2023 was a positive year, particularly due to "a very good performance" of the highways business in North America.

The largest dividend contributors were the Texas Managed Lanes and the Canadian 407 ETR due to increased traffic, Ferrovial said.

The conglomerate last year surprised investors with a plan to move its holding company to the Netherlands, listing it there and later in the U.S., to expand its business and investor base across the Atlantic.

In early January, Ferrovial filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to be listed on Nasdaq.

The U.S. listing process is "advancing well," Madridejos said on a call with analysts on Tuesday, without elaborating. The company expects additional costs as new compliance processes may require hiring outside consultants, it said in a document filed to the SEC.

Chairman Rafael Del Pino added on the call that Ferrovial was "looking ahead for attractive investment opportunities mainly in the U.S.", while the company CEO cited plans to bid for another U.S. highway project this year.

Ferrovial is building a new terminal at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport due to be completed by 2027.

As Ferrovial awaits the final go-ahead from U.S. authorities, it said this month it expected to pay out around 1.7 billion euros in dividends between 2024 and 2026.

On Tuesday, it proposed a total dividend of 0.75 euros per share in two payments.

Ferrovial announced its intention to sell its 25% stake in Britain's biggest airport Heathrow to the private equity fund Ardian and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) last year. However, the company said on Tuesday there was no certainty that the sale would be completed.

($1 = 0.9211 euros)

(Reporting by Corina Pons; editing by Andrei Khalip, Catarina Demony and Richard Chang)